Alba Victoria Zamarbide Urdaniz wins with PhD on Buffers in the management of historical territory

On 27 September, Dr. Alba Victoria Zamarbide Urdaniz from Waseda University in Japan was announced as the winner of the 5th ENCATC Research Award on Cultural Policy and Cultural Management for her PhD on "Re-defining the role of 'buffers' in the management of the historical territory. The discrepancies between theoretical concepts and practical interpretations of 'buffer' zones in Eastern and Western Cultural World Heritage sites.”

The 2018 Award winner was revealed at the ENCATC Research Award Ceremony held in Bucharest, Romania during the 26th ENCATC Congress "Beyond EYCH2018. What is the cultural horizon? Opening up perspectives to face ongoing transformations." Speaking on behalf of the Award’s International Jury, Francesca Imperiale, President of ENCATC said: “This extremely well designed and written study, with its rich theoretical perspective, comparative approach, and “real world” application, reflects the true spirit of the ENCATC Research Award.”

Alba Zamarbide Urdaniz' research gives an overview of different European and Asian historical regions bringing up the debate on alternative meanings for “buffer” zones as a possible catalyst of holistic regional management efforts at different scales. It makes use of a wide range of analysis layers, from theory to morphology, legal management and on site studies with stakeholders and local communities, to make a critic to the globally extended heritage management models. Based on strong empirical data, her conciliatory model serves as a prelude to the transition from traditional heritage “preservation” models to growing holistic visions, defining new roles and positions for organizations and communities as essential pieces of the heritage management strategy.

Dr. Zamarbide Urdaniz expressed her gratitude for the ENCATC Award’s prestigious international recognition: “I would like to thank ENCATC and the Award’s international jury for this opportunity to share my research in Europe and beyond that has benefited from a social approach which I learned from a Japanese methodology. This proves that the consideration of many human layers of cultural management needs worldwide attention.” The winner will have her PhD thesis published in the ENCATC Book Series on Cultural Management and Cultural Policy Education by the international publishing house, PIE Peter Lang.

Prof. Mircea Dumitru, PhD, Rector of the University of Bucharest the largest university in Romania and one of the first two in the country, addressed the audience to emphasize the crucial relationship between research and teaching. He also praised the important work being done by PhD students as the next generation of talent bringing new perspectives to benefit cultural management and policy.

Alongside the 2018 winner, the finalists were applauded for their relevant contributions to the field of cultural management and policy research: Dr. Francesca Giliberto for her PhD on "Linking Theory with Practice: Assessing the Integration of a 21st Century International Approach to Urban Heritage Conservation, Management and Development in the World Heritage Cities of Florence and Edinburgh" obtained from Politecnico di Torino in Italy and the University of Kent in the United Kingdom and Dr. Matina Magkou, for her PhD on "Value and evaluation in international cultural cooperation programmes focus on the EuroArab region" obtained from the University of Deusto in Spain.

Launched in 2014, the ENCATC Research Award exists to stimulate academic research in the field of cultural policy and management, to explore contemporary issues at stake and possibly anticipate new cultural policy orientations through comparative and cross-cultural research. Moreover, it contributes to the process of creating an infrastructure, a network of researchers who are doing comparative research projects in cultural policy and management issues.

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